Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, flanked by fellow Republicans, makes his case for repealing the health care reform law Wednesday on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Elena Schneider/ Medill News Service)
WASHINGTON –The House will vote on repealing the heath care reform law after 5:30 p.m. The repeal is expected to pass in the Republican-led House. Throughout the day, House Democrats and Republicans made their final cases during press conferences and floor debates.
Speaker John Bohener, R-Ohio, said the GOP plans to replace “Obamacare” with “common sense health care reforms that will lower insurance costs and create jobs.” Boehner did not talk about the provisions of the reforms.
Confident that the Republican-led House will repeal the reforms, Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he would convene a bipartisan meeting Thursday to draft an alternative reform plan that he believes would appeal to the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
“Americans are tired of seeing legislation that goes to a graveyard,” Cantor said.
The Senate has, so far, not appeared open to the idea of repealing the health care law. President Barack Obama has said he would use his veto power to keep the law on the books, though he has signaled he’s open to adjusting parts of the controversial reforms passed in 2010.
On the other side of the Capitol, Democratic leaders held a press conference a few minutes before the Democratic Caucus met. They talked about how repeal will especially hurt small businesses, the job market and the economy.
John Larson, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said that the repeal should not serve as an “ideological knee-jerk reaction” because millions of Americans need affordable health care.
“The last thing we should do is put insurance agencies back in the driver’s seat,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla..
She added the health care law has been” job creating” and “life-affirming,” saying 1.1 million jobs have been created in the private sector because of the reforms.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack later said that rural communities oppose the repeal. “It will reduce the deficit $230 billion,” Vilsack added. “Seniors like that they can get prescription drugs cheaper.”
Debate resumes
Congressman are now making one-minute speeches on the floor of the House. The tone is civil.
Since this month’s shooting rampage in Tucson, many journalists, voters and politicians–including the president–have said that partisan politics poisoned controversial issues, such as health care, and inspired violent acts.
Republicans suspended the vote on healthcare repeal, scheduled for last week, in light of the Arizona shootings.
Few representatives have mentioned the political rhetoric that surrounded the shooting in their floor speeches. Instead, members chose to discuss the national deficit, small businesses and job creation.
Boehner, Cantor, and other Republican leaders, have begun to refer to the bill as “Repealing the Job-Destroying Heath Care Law Act,” instead of its original name, “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.”
Hopes to rid the debate of its rhetoric appeared on the floor, as well.
“Hopefully we can say it’s not a Democrat bill, but it’s a bill supported by Congress and the president,” said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., a friend of injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., did reference the tragedy today–once in a press conference, then again on the floor during the debate: “Patricia Maisch knocked the second clip out of the shooter’s hand.”
The freshman representative said that Maisch, a small business owner, cannot and will not be able to provide health insurance for her employees’ spouses if the repeal passes.
Administration officials condemned the repeal because it rests on a GOP agenda.
“People talk about this repeal as political theater or a symbol. It isn’t symbolic for these people [who can’t afford health care],” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
Democrats continued to claim that Republicans have not drafted a realistic alternative to the health laws passed in March 2010. But they are doing it in a nice way.
“How will my colleagues pay for alternatives?” said Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif. “It is irresponsible to repeal without a plan.”
Davis and other Democrats talked about why they believe the reforms should remain in place, including discrimination against children with pre-existing medical conditions and the rising prices of prescription drugs for seniors who cannot afford Medicaid.
The financial numbers for health care reform and repeal released by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office earlier this month have been a contentious issue in Congress. Democrats argue that the government would suffer from repealing the reforms already enacted, using the CBO’s numbers as evidence.
Rep. David Butterfield, D-N.C., stressed the $230 billion, a number reported by the CBO, that would increase the deficit if the reforms are repealed.
But Republicans say Americans would be burdened by a tax debt that reaches far beyond 2014 — and they argue that patients are already suffering from the reform’s $20 million cut from Medicare.
“I support a solution that’s patient-centered, not government centered,” said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.
Republicans leaders also focused on what they believe is the unconstitutionality of the reforms.
“The people of Indiana sent me to Washington with a message: ‘Get government out of our lives,’” said Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind. “Health care is not a right. Don’t leave our grandchildren to pay for it.”
Some members even said the reform law went so far as to be unconstitutional, which overshadowed its benefits. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., said the creation of 16,000 jobs at the Internal Revenue Service is undermined by the fact that patients and professionals won’t be able to choose a health care plan.
After the vote, some representatives will stay in the chamber into the evening.
House rules allow certain committees to report legislation affecting the health care law. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has said he will then sponsor an amendment that would fix the Medicare payment options, an answer to Republican concerns.
